MEMPHIS, August 19, 2026 - Shelby County commissioners voted four to nothing to award $51,429 from the Milton Community Enhancement Program Grant Fund to the Shelby County Sheriff's Office on November 1, 2026, and to approve the purchase of a 2027 RAM 2500 Crew Cab 4x4 from AJ Dohmann CDJR on the office's behalf.

The item was the second and last before Committee 16, Milton Community Enhancement Grants.

The sponsor's explanation

Commissioner Amber Mills, the sponsor, gave the committee the full account in under a minute.

She said that during prior community enhancement grant awards the county was able to start up a mounted unit with the sheriff's department, and that the truck is something that would be put in for the unit if grant funds were available the following year. She said she has spoken to the incoming District 1 commissioner, who is on board, and that the body would see the item again in November, but that approving it now lets the sheriff's office get the vehicle on its order list for later.

No commissioner asked a question. Commissioner Britney Thornton, who chaired the committee, called for the vote.

The item that came first

Minutes earlier, the same committee advanced an ordinance on third reading establishing additional accountability, reporting and eligibility requirements for grants approved by the Board of Commissioners. That ordinance is sponsored by four commissioners and had been deferred from the June 24, 2026 committee meeting.

Nobody spoke on it. The chair asked whether anyone was present to speak and whether any commissioner wished to be heard. Seeing none, the committee voted four to nothing to send it forward.

The record does not establish whether the new accountability requirements would apply to the truck award, and no one raised the question in the room.

The two votes

On the accountability ordinance, aye votes came from Commissioner Mills, Commissioner Britney Thornton, Commissioner David C. Bradford, Jr. and Chairwoman Shante K. Avant. On the truck award, the same four voted aye. Commissioner Thornton closed by noting it was her last committee as a first-time elected official.

What happens next

The full Commission adopted the truck award on the consent agenda on Monday, August 24, 2026, on 12 aye votes, without discussion. It adopted the grant accountability ordinance separately on third reading the same evening, on 10 aye votes with Commissioner Charlie A. Caswell, Jr. and Commissioner Henri E. Brooks abstaining, again with no discussion. The question of whether the ordinance applies to the truck award was not raised at either meeting. The resolution awards the funds on November 1, 2026, and the sponsor said the body would see the item again in November. By that date the award will be administered by a different Sheriff and voted on by a different Commission. Anthony Buckner has since been sworn in as Sheriff, and District 1, whose incoming commissioner the sponsor said she consulted, is now represented by Rhonda Odell.

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